Schism
by TheDarkFragment
Summary: AU. The path of divergence is a slim one to walk and sometimes, one becomes lost and the wall between Light and Darkness blurs out. Will they ever find their path again? NOT Yaoi. Contains some dark themes and the occasional extreme violence.
1. Proloque: Sacred Ceremony

_Proloque: Sacred Ceremony_

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Those were the only sounds Naruto Uzumaki heard, as he walked down the lane infront of him._

_He could see the people left and right of him shouting, cheering and clapping, but he couldn't, wouldn't, didn't hear them, only the steady sound of his feet hitting the ground._

_He continued on his way, flanked by two figures, shrouded in cloaks, their hitai-ite glimming despite lack of a light source._

_It was a cloudless evening, the sun painting the horizon a beautiful red._

_He looked at the people gathered for this ceremony, it looked like the whole village came, which wasn't really a surprise. _

_They waited long for this day._

_He smiled when he looked infront of him at his longtime friend, who waited for him to finally reach the stage, standing on the right side of the staircase, while on the left side... on the left side stood his other childhood friend._

_He was still smiling, as he finally reached the podium, walking up the staircase and onto the stage, overlooking the whole population of the village._

_He turned around to the people standing on the stage with him, there were three._

_The first was a woman. Who had blonde hair and looked like she was in her early twenties. This was Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage._

_The second was an old man, who had bandages covering the right side of his face and a cane in his left hand. This was Danzo Shimura, the Yami of the Shinobi._

_The third was another old man, whose face was littered with wrinkles and whose head was balding slightly. This was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Kami of the Shinobi._

_Then, the woman began to speak, in a voice reserved for such ceremonies._

_"Naruto Uzumaki, welcome to your execution."_

_The sky was clouded now._

_It would rain soon._

_-End of Proloque-_

_What do you think? Please tell me, is it worth continuing?_

_My other story will probably suffer from this a little, but I'm still writing it._


	2. Chapter 1: That Fateful Night

Chapter 1: That Fateful Night

Naruto was bored. There was nothing for him to do, other than sit in his seat in the back of the classroom, with his arms crossed on the table and his head leaned on them.

The Chunin teacher droned on about the foundation of the leaf village, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, but Naruto didn't care. He was imagining being in Ichiraku Ramen, eating as much as he could, with the Hokage at his side, paying for it.

His musing were interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing.

_Finally, I never thought learning to be a ninja could be this boring. _Naruto thought, standing up and walking towards the door, together with his classmates.

As he walked outside the main door of the academy, he watched the parents fetch their kids after a long day of school, smiling at them and asking how their day was.

When he passed a group, the parents would look at him with the same distant, sad look everyone seemed to have in their eyes, when locked onto him, muttering things he wouldn't quite understand.

He walked in the direction of a training ground, which he often used to hone his skills, as it was isolated and other ninja hopefuls or full-fletched ninja rarely came there.

What he didn't notice, was another boy, unconsciously walking in the same direction as himself. The other boy had black hair, that stuck out at the back of his head and was spiky, his eyes were black and there was a scowl on his otherwise good-looking face.

Having reached his location long before the slow walking black-haired boy, Naruto began stretching his limbs and running around the clearing, that he was in.

By the time he was warmed up, another person stood in the training grounds with him.

"What do you want here, Uchiha?" Naruto asked, rather rudely, when he took notice of his visitor.

The, now identified, member of Konoha's greatest clan, barring maybe the Hyuuga, looked up at Naruto, his brooding interrupted, and the scowl on his face deepened.

"None of your business." He answered, although, in all actuality, the reason for him being there was him being too deep in thought to realize where he was going.

His thoughts were about his brother, the 'Uchiha Prodigy', as everyone called him nowadays. Of course, it was very much true that he was a prodigy, Sasuke had seen him in action, after all. But, being the genius of your generation was time consuming and, Sasuke found, his brother had less and less time to play and train with him. He was always on a mission or on a clan meeting, that Sasuke himself wasn't allowed to attend. He also got colder, towards everyone, even his little brother.

There was definitely something wrong going on around him.

"Oy, are you there or did your brain burst from realizing my awesomeness?"

But now, he had more pressing matters to attend to, such as kicking that blonde's ass.

"You wanna fight, blondie?" He shouted at the kid in front of him, taking a step forward.

"You bet!" was his answer.

And fight they did.

-0-

Naruto threw a half-hearted punch at the Uchiha, which was blocked just as enthusiastically.

They were at it for quite some time now and both of them were equally tired, on the verge of just falling to the ground in a heap from their tremendous exhaustion.

"You- phew- you are really good, Uchiha... for a stuck-up prick." Naruto managed to get out, blocking a kick to his head with his forearm.

"You too, you know, for an idiot that can't tie his shoes." The Uchiha said, panting between speaking. "The name's Sasuke, by the way."

"Naruto."

They were finally spent and fell down on their asses, trying to bring their breathing to normal levels.

"So, do you come here often?" Sasuke finally asked, having evened his breathing.

"Yeah, it's my unofficial personal training ground, since I can't... nevermind."

"Nevermind what?" Sasuke queried, picking up on the quickly dropping mood of Naruto, but insisting still.

"W-well, I don't really like being around the villagers, that goes for the ninja, as well. They just rub me the wrong way and I can't concentrate on training when they see me and..." Naruto relented, but stopped again.

Sasuke scowled at Naruto's reluctance, bringing his face nearer to him, saying, "Spit it out already, it's not like I'll tell someone."

"They are...always sad when I am around and I don't know why." Naruto said hesitantly, as if him saying that would make Sasuke the same, "I don't want to make people sad."

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, while day around them slowly turned to night and the wind swept a cold blanket over the village.

"Maybe you remind them of something sad and it's not your fault!" Sasuke said, smiling. "I'm not sad around you, right? I...I'm happier around you than I've been for weeks."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke in shock. Here was the second person and the first of his peers to ever say something like that to him. Maybe, he and Sasuke could be friends.

Narutos hopes were higher than they'd ever been.

"Hehe, thanks."

-0-

"I have to go now, Ino."

"Aww, so soon?" The platinum blonde haired girl pouted, getting off the swing."Guess it can't be helped, your mother is scary when you're late. Well, see you around."

Sakura smiled and waved goodbye to Ino, walking in the direction of her home. It was getting late, and the sun was almost down, painting the clouds in the sky a beautiful red.

Sakura decided to take a short cut, as she really would be late if she didn't hurry and, like Ino said, her mother could be scary when she came late to dinner.

She hurried down an alley, that would take her near the market, where she lived, but stopped dead in her tracks.

The walls of the alley were splattered with still fresh blood, that slowly ran down and was absorbed by the ground, becoming nutrition for the plants. The body, the blood belonged to, was lying in the middle of the alley, face down. It was obvious, that the throat was slashed, by the blood pooling around the head.

Sakura stared at the body, not noticing anything else. The hair seemed familiar to her, it was brown. The clothes were familiar, too. She had seen those same clothes just this morning… when saying goodbye and leaving for the Ninja Academy…she had seen those clothes on her mother.

The white haired girl broke down in disbelief and then slowly started crying, her body shaking and her sobs reaching the ears of the two other people in the alley, who didn't notice Sakura before, just as she didn't notice them. They both wore blank, indescript masks, that covered all their facial features and had a little blood on them, both their hair was the same shade of brown and they wore ANBU styled clothes, black in color.

The would-be ANBU approached the crying girl slowly, making sure she didn't notice them, but one of the stepped on a twig, that lay innocently in the middle of the alley.

Sakura couldn't believe it, her mother was dead…dead! She wouldn't ever scold her for being late for dinner again, she wouldn't sing to her at night, when Sakura had a nightmare, anymore. She wouldn't ever speak to her again, she was gone!

Her sobs intensified, when she thought of all the things that were now lost, for both her and her mother, but the sound of a twig snapping alerted her to the other occupants of the alley.

She looked up at the strange, white masked men that were advancing on her and immediately had a bad feeling about them. The way they moved, the way their cold eyes stared at her through the masks, the way they just ignored the body of her mother, one stepping on her hand, crushing the bones, it was definitely wrong.

One of the men took out a kunai, that was her cue. She was right, those men were bad, they were the ones that killed her mother! She wanted to kill them, but was smart enough to know, that she had no chance at all.

Her only choice was to run.

The two masked men were now dangerously close to her, why they walked so slowly, she didn't know, maybe they liked dramatics. But it became obvious, when she suddenly jumped up and ran, that the two didn't expect anything of the sort from her, as they were clearly confused and hesitated for a few seconds, giving her a little head start.

Sakura sprinted down the alley, the way she came, and got to the end, where, hopefully, people still walked around. But the street she was now running down was empty, giving her attackers a witness-free kill.

A kunai zipped past Sakura, missing her jugular by a hair-length.

She continued running.

A forest was at the end of her road and she sped up, going as fast as she could.

Just as she reached the edge of the forest, a kunai embedded itself in her thigh, piercing her skin and ripping muscles apart, it was well into her bone, cracking it. She screamed loudly, birds were scared out of their nests and other non-flying animals quickly sped away from her, abandoning her to the ninja, who where now slowly walking towards her again.

Sakura tried to crawl away from them, but this time they knew not to underestimate her. One of them stomped on Sakuras back, slamming her face into the dirt, muffling her screams in the process. Only a scared whimpering could be heard now.

The second one took out yet another kunai, approaching Sakura, and made a move to cut her neck open.

"Aaaahhrgg!"

The man holding Sakura down suddenly yelled and trashed around, holding his crotch. The other one quickly looked at his cohort, but that was a mistake, as a sharp pain appeared between his legs, as well.

Two young boys, around the same age as Sakura, stood before the ANBU, holding sturdy looking sticks.

"That's what you get for hurting a girl, you bully!" One of the boys, with blond hair and blue eyes, shouted.

"Yeah, if you hurt a girl, you don't deserve to experience the pleasures of one!" The other kid said, this one having black hair and black eyes, actually, everything on him was black, sans his skin.

"Uhh, Sasuke? What do you mean 'pleasures of a girl'?" The blonde, still unnamed, child asked his friend.

Sasuke answered in an unsure tone, "I don't know, that's what my Brother told me, but he said I'll understand one day…"

The two men, one still holding his crotch, stood up and seemed to glare at the two boys, but one couldn't be sure with the masks.

"Err, I think we are in trouble." The unnamed kid said, looking from his friend to the angry ninja. "RUN FOR IT!"

The two of them quickly grabbed Sakura and heaved her on Narutos shoulder, as he was fresher than Sasuke, then they dashed further into the forest, closely followed by the two slightly limping ninja.

Sakura felt dizzy and disorientated. She could make out that she was being carried and whoever carried her ran as if he was Jiraiya caught peeking on Tsunade. Her head hit the back of her carrier every so often and her thigh hurt, the kunai still sticking out of it, but thankfully not driven deeper in by the running.

Then, the white haired girl heard a yell of pain, and her carrier suddenly stopped, dropping her to the ground, careful enough to not drive the kunai in deeper. Thinking that he was hit as well, she panicked, and tried to crawl away from him, but as she looked up, she saw that she was in front of the black haired kid. _So, the blond one carried me._

The black haired child, Sasuke, she remembered, was clutching his arm, were the handle of a kunai protruded from. He was bleeding profusely, as, different from Sakuras case, his artery was severed.

_He will die if I don't help him! _Sakura thought, panicking. She didn't want another to die today. Of course, the two masked men were an exception. So she ripped off the front of her red, one-piece dress, yanked out the kunai, drawing a gasp of pain from Sasuke and tied the piece of cloth around the wound, making sure to make it tight, just like she learned in the Academy.

Meanwhile, Naruto was facing the two attackers on his own, wanting to protect his friend and the girl, who were both injured. There was a strange, red glint in his eyes, making the masked men nervous.

Naruto wondered who they were, they seemed completely identical, down to the movement patterns and quirks, which were non-existent. They seemed like machines, made to kill and without individuality. He decided not to dwell on it for too long, opting to call them Mask One and Mask Two.

All three of them were in fighting stances.

Mask One twitched a little and Naruto dashed forward, throwing a punch to the man's rips, which was blocked by his forearm. Mask Two took the opportunity and kicked Naruto in his unguarded right side, throwing him into a tree.

Damn, that hurt. I have to be more careful with those, I could be dead any second.

Naruto stood up, seemingly unperturbed by the kick and this time, he waited for them to make the first move, leaving an opening in his guard on purpose. Mask Two took the bait and moved in with a kunai, going for the kill. Naruto shifted to his right and tripped the man, taking hold of his kunai arm and swinging him against the tree behind him, were he himself crashed in seconds before. The added momentum allowed Naruto to rip the kunai out of the man's hand and cracked his left arm in the process.

Unfortunately, Mask One hadn't been idle in that time. He was dashing at Sasuke and the girl instead, also holding a kunai. Naruto didn't have enough time to intercept him, so he threw the kunai at the man, hoping it would at least slow him down for Sasuke and the girl to get away, if not injure him.

It was not to be. Mask One easily deflected the kunai with his' and continued towards the two injured children. Naruto watched in horror, as Mask One took Sasuke and pressed the kunai against his throat.

While Naruto stood, frozen, the other man came to his senses again and brought Naruto in the same position as Sasuke.

It was over, they were all going to die and he didn't even know the name of the girl he couldn't protect.

The men moved to slice their throats.

And the blood spilled on the unforgiving ground.

-End of Chapter-

If you're wondering, the two ninja are the noobs of the noobs, that's why the guys survived that long, will be addressed in the next chapter as well.


	3. Chapter 2: War

IMPORTANT NOTICE (ITS IN CAPS AFTER ALL): Please make sure to read the AN at the end of the chapter, fictional lives depend on it.

Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to any recognizable content in, and also do not make any profit from, this story, apart from the pleasure of writing it and my readers reading it.

Warning: This chapter contains dark themes and child death, please read at your own discretion

Chapter 2: War

A crimson liquid sprayed on the ground, painting a picture of death and sorrow, trying to fill in every tiny nook on the new, unfamiliar surface. The small body of a child hit the cold earth it was, just hours ago, playing on.

The cold, apathetic eyes of its murderer lingered on the corpse for a moment and then he went on to kill the brother of the little girl, who was currently cowering in a corner, whimpering for his mother.

The Killer would have none of it.

In a swift strike of a kunai, the life of another child, that had started only two years prior, was ended. The children's parents were already lying on the ground, a few paces away from their kids, in a virtual sea of their own blood, their throats having been slit.

The dark figure of the Killer moved on, not looking back at the lives he had taken, pity but a distant memory to him.

He cleared another house, took lives left and right, destroyed the future of many a child, leaving none to tell the tale. House after house, mansion after mansion, street after street he sent people to another existence in the dead of night. Not a single cry was heard, only blood left for the crows to bask in.

Then, as the whole district was left in silence and death, the Killer looked at the last house, the house he had not yet dared to touch, the house that held his mother, his father and his little brother.

His little brother.

The sole glimmer of light and hope in the man's forsaken life.

The reason he existed.

He opened the door, silently. The light was still on, his father was probably in his study, plotting. His mother and brother had to be sleeping then, good, it would make things easier.

He approached the study of his father first, sticking to the walls and using a technique to camouflage himself. As he entered the room, his eyes immediately fell on his parents, who were murmuring unrecognisably. So his mother was awake after all, but she was with his father, he could get them in one go.

He quietly made a Shadow Clone and they circled around to a better vantage point. His parents, unsuspecting and relying on the blood wards to alert them of any none-Uchiha entering the compound, remained blissfully ignorant of his presence.

That was their downfall.

The Killer moved down from the wall he had attached himself to, and, brandishing a kunai, slit the throat of his father, while his Shadow Clone took care of his mother.

It was done.

It was over.

There was only one thing left to do.

Itachi Uchiha walked into the room of his brother, breaking in the door, as it was locked, ...to find it empty.

_Damn._

-0-

Blood splattered against the back of Sasukes head, soaking his hair.

Sakura let out a horrified scream, as the disembodied head of Sasukes captor flew over her, spraying its blood all over her. Sasuke looked shocked at his sudden freedom and fell to the ground. He looked around to spot the new possible threat and his eyes landed on a man, who occupied the middle of the clearing.

Naruto stared at the black haired man, fear and shock in his eyes. This man had just easily dispatched of the two ninja, who gave them so much trouble, without him even seeing the man move in. Mask One and Mask Two just fell to the floor, suddenly missing their heads.

The man with black hair looked around the scene, his gaze sweeping over Naruto and Sakura, then resting on Sasuke.

"Hello there, a good night it is, don't you think?" He said pleasantly, addressing the three children.

Naruto blanched, he had just brutally murdered two men and talked about the quality of the night? There had to be something wrong with that guy. Sasuke and Sakura looked like they had similar thoughts.

"Oh, were are my manners. I am Sakuya Uchiha, pleased to meet you."

Sasuke looked taken aback by that, a curious glint in his eyes.

Naruto continued to stare, then relented and gave the crazy man his name, "Naruto Uzumaki."

The other two kids followed his example.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sa-sakura Haruno."

Sakuya looked at Sakura, a strange look in his eyes. He looked away and piled the bodies of the two masked ninja up, taking their masks off before he did a few handseals and uttered his jutsu in their direction.

**Fire Release: Great Fireball**

The bodies of Mask One and Two burned in the chakra enhanced fire, until only ashes were left, which were quickly swept away by the wind.

"Now that that's taken care care of, lets have a little talk. Gather 'round kids."

The three frightened children slowly approached Sakuya, still wary of the man, who had dropped down on the grass. Sakura, in a wave of courage, was the first to sit down, across from Sakuya.

The two boys, eyes narrowed, followed suit.

Naruto spoke first, not to Sakuya, but to Sasuke, "Hey, Sasuke, didn't he say he was an Uchiha? Why are you scared of one of your family members?"

"Idiot, because I don't trust him. I have never seen him in the Uchiha district before, never heard of him either."

"So, he lied? Why would he do that, if you are there to expose him?"

"How should I know? He doesn't belong to my family."

"Maybe-"

Sakuya, whose eye had repetitively twitched at the conversation, had enough of being ignored.

"Shut up, you little shits!" he bellowed, "first of all, I do belong to the Uchiha Clan, I just don't go out much, secondly, you don't have to be scared, I'm here to help you."

With that statement, Sakura managed to gather the courage to ask a question of her own,

"Mister Uchiha? Who were th-those men from before?"

Sakuya looked at her, his face serious, and began to explain.

-0-

A sigh escaped the wary man's mouth, bringing with it smoke, that circled around the room in cryptic patterns, before dissolving into the air. The old man sitting behind a huge oak desk looked at the ANBU in front of him, who had just finished his report.

Sauuri Haruno was dead, another casualty of the game he was playing and not the only one at that, far from it. Today, the Uchiha clan had been all but wiped out by none other than the heir to it, Itachi Uchiha. The only survivor was Sasuke Uchiha, the heirs little brother, who had not been present at the time the massacre took place. Actually, young Sasuke had yet to be found.

The other man in the room looked at his leader, waiting for some kind of reply or dismissal. The ANBU was experienced and had worked under the Sandaime for a long time now, even in his first reign, he was by his side.

But in all those years, he had never seen the man quite like he was now. The Hokage looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, slowly crushing him. He looked like he was far too old for his job, which was true, as he was enjoying his retirement, when tragedy struck and the Yondaime Hokage had sacrificed himself to save the village in the Kyuubi attack. The Sandaime had stepped in again after that, because there simply wasn't anyone, other than him, who could take the job at the time.

The loss of Sauuri Haruno was a great one, as she was an avid supporter of the Sandaime's Peace Policy. Many members of the council followed her, she was a very charismatic woman and brought forth convincing arguments, that even the Hokage himself hadn't thought of.

She was a key figure to keep the Hokage's rival at bay, the Yami of Shinobi.

The Yami of Shinobi was the direct opposite to the Sandaime, or Kami of Shinobi, not only in name, but most importantly in belief. While the Kami preached about the Will of Fire, which said that love, compassion and determination was the key to peace and prospering and was passed down from generation to generation, originating from the Shodaime Hokage, one of the founders of Konoha, the Yami had very different ideals.

The Yami's idea of a Shinobi Nindo was that lies, deceit, apathy and bloodshed would lead to the villages greatest prospering. The Yami of Shinobi controlled the underground of the whole village and had a spy network that rivaled that of Jiraiya of the Sannin. At every point in the career of the Sandaime, the Yami was there to oppose him or twist his laws.

But the ultimate goal both of them had, was to protect their village, their pride. That lead to the occasional ceasefire and alliance between the two and when that happened, almost nothing could stop them, as they had been teammates in their genin days.

Sadly, for the aged Hokage, this was not one of those occasions.

The door to his office opened to reveal Danzou Shimura, the Yami of Shinobi, who was calmly walking in, sitting down in a chair and looking, with his one eye, at Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Kami of Shinobi.

"Good evening, Hiruzen. I would very much like to know, why Sauuri Haruno was found dead, with an Iwa symbol painted in her blood next to her, or more importantly, what you are going to do about it."

-0-

"So, this really important councilwomen was killed by those two masked ninja?" Naruto asked, wide eyed.

"Yes, Naruto that is the gist of it." Sayuri replied, looking annoyed. "But more important is the fact that an Iwa Symbol was by her side, painted in her blood."

Sakura flinched at that, huddled a little away from the group, the death of her mother finally having caught up to her, with the adrenaline gone, but did not look up as tears continued to fall, soaked up by the earth. Naruto looked at her in concern, but Sayuri said not to disturb her, he would fill her in later, if she missed something.

Sasuke looked from Sakura to Sayuri, also worried, but not knowing what he would even say to her. So instead, he concentrated on the topic of their conversation.

"The Iwa symbol would mean that Iwagakure was behind the attack, there is going to be war, right?"

"You are right on one point, Sasuke. There is going to be war, but with whom will be decided by us." Sayuri said, looking at the children and seeing their utterly confused and slightly panicked expressions. He sighed. He really was not good with kids, for all his cheerfulness.

"The two masked men were not Iwa ninja, look at the masks more carefully. See this little sign on the back of the mask? The one that looks like the roots of a tree? That is the sign of Root, an organization led by Danzou Shimura. It is his ow personal army of mindless drones."

That revelation came as a shock to Naruto, not so much to the other two. He had met Danzoe before, when visiting the Hokage. He seemed a kind, but strong old man, whose presence demanded respect, similar to Hiruzen himself. Naruto never would have guessed the truth about the man.

"So, this Danzou blamed the murder on Iwa?" Sasuke quickly concluded.

"My, you are a quick one," Sayuri smiled, "indeed, Danzou is framing Iwagakure for the assassination, but there is another reason. The councilwoman was practically the only thing preventing Danzou from starting his long wished war with Iwa, as well as his ascension to Hokage, though Sarutobi will probably be able to hold the position a while longer."

Naruto was shocked, his Grandfather would lose his position? To a slimy bastard like Danzou at that. That could not be allowed, Naruto resolved.

"So, in killing the councilwoman and blaming it on Iwa, Danzou effectively took away the leader of the civilian council and gave them a new goal, revenge, which just so coincidently fits with his own, long sought goal."

The three children gulped. They had heard stories of war from the adults in their lives, stories of pain and suffering, of death and destruction, sadness and sorrow. They did not want to live through that, but it became inevitable with Sayuri's next words.

"Now, we have a choice to make. We can tell the Sandaime who the real culprit is and possibly start a civil war of epic proportions, the first one Konoha has ever had, with Danzou, his Root and his allies against those loyal to Sarutobi. Or we can keep silent and let another war between Konoha and Iwa break out."

The three kids sat there, shocked and slightly nauseated. Sayuri looked grim and, athough he was not showing it, felt a deep rooted sadness rising in his heart, thinking of the burden the three now had on their shoulders. Their lives would not be easy, far from it, but he would be there to help them, he vowed it.

This was probably the hardest moment in the children's life yet. They, three seven-year-olds and one whatever-age-he-was ninja, were to decide the fate of not only their village, but the whole Elemental countries.

How?

-End of Chapter-

So, how did you like it? Please be so kind as to leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize for the shorter chapter, but the original has been cut in two, so the next chapter will come out hopefully before the weekend. I also apologize for not fully correcting this chapter, that will be done tomorrow as humans need sleep after all, if they want to wake at 7:50.

ONTO MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS: You will get to make a choice, yes, THE choice.

Civil war or Iwa-Konoha war?

What will it be? Tell me in the poll on my profile page.


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